Entrepreneur.com Radio Interview

Interview on Entrepreneur.com Show Date: 3/27/2006 Segment 4 – Product Source of the Week Chris: The biggest question on everyone’s mind in home-based internet business is “where do I find products to sell?” Well, you find them right here on our show a full week before they appear in our worldwidebrands.com product sourcing directories. Every week we interview a genuine wholesale supplier that you can use for your own home-based internet business. Today we’re speaking with Melissa Atherholt, founder of Passport Baby, an authorized distributor for a variety of kindersacks, baby bedding, baby gifts, and a whole lot more. You can find Melissa’s company at www.kindersack.com if you want to do business with them.

Chris: Melissa, welcome to the show.

Melissa: Hi, thank you very much.

Chris: I understand you have a baby with you today.

Melissa: Well, I’m hoping she’s okay, she’s in front of Barney, so…(laughter). God bless Barney.

Chris: (Laughter) Oh boy, Barney’s still around, huh? I remember that. Today is my youngest daughter’s eleventh birthday, so it’s been a while since I’ve had a baby in the house, but I remember Barney.

Melissa: Well I enjoy Barney for these types of occasions.

Chris: (Laughter). So what makes Passport Baby unique in the marketplace, Melissa?

Melissa: Passport Baby has been around since 2000. We offer a fabulous product called a kindersack. It’s much safer than blankets. It’s basically a wearable blanket that babies can wear when they go to sleep and they don’t have to worry about it coming up around their neck. They don’t have to worry about their feet getting caught in the spokes of the crib. And they sleep better. So it’s a really good product that’s been around for about thirty or forty years in Europe and finally American parents are really getting it. In the last few years my business has just been incredible, which is really good.

Chris: Which is great for your retailers because the more awareness in this country, the more sales.

Melissa: Yes. And I heard about the sourcing directory through another friend who does baby furniture and I’m finally at a point where I’ve got assistance and I’m able to get things moving along. So I’m very anxious to set up some e-tailers and get the product out there even more.

Chris: Terrific. And that’s wonderful because it sounds like you’re just offering products to internet retailers at this point.

Melissa: At this point, yes. We’ve had them in finer boutiques and I think the internet is the way that at-home mommies are shopping and my business proves it. The internet is still definitely the way to go and for an e-tailer that has any kind of gift or parenting website, anyone that would like to add a small section with just a few baby gifts, this is a perfect product. Obviously, you know it doesn’t cost anything. We set people up every day and we send them all the JPGs, everything they need. We’ll walk them through it. A lot of people are starting websites and don’t really know what they’re doing. We’re more than happy to help them.

Chris: Wow, That’s fantastic. Having that kind of support is really what e-tailers need. You have other products on your website as well.

Melissa: We do. We have a product called droolie which is also a fabulous new product. That’s ours and we manufacture that as well as the kindersacks. And we’re also getting into baby bedding where the kindersack will be a part of it. And that’s only for the round cribs. We work with a company that has a fabulous new round crib and we’re going to be doing the bedding for them.

Chris: Boy, how’s that for a concept.

Melissa: There you go. Things are getting different every day.

Chris: Cribs have been cribs my whole life and all of a sudden a round crib and it makes so much sense.

Melissa: It does.

Chris: And I’ve never even heard of it before.

Melissa: It’s practical, beautiful, and it’s a space saver. If you’re like me and have a very small fourth bedroom in your house, the nursery, the round crib is fabulous. You can just put it right in the middle and decorate around it and it’s wonderful.

Chris: Yeah, with access on all sides of the crib and you’re not up against a wall, no place where little hands and feet can get stuck.

Melissa: Exactly, yes. And Passport Baby is acting like a representative. We’re a sales rep for that company too, so we can certainly help people out there. As far as the drop shipping goes for e-tailers, our main product is the kindersack, every size and print imaginable, organic cotton we have which is very hot right now. We use only all cotton on the kindersack sleep sacks. And that’s really what kind of sets us apart. There are a lot of people using a lot of polyester and less expensive fleece and fabrics like that, but we have decided to go with all cotton. It’s much safer from our research and healthier for the baby.

Chris: Sounds like a fantastic resource. That is our show for today. Melissa Atherholt, founder of Passport Baby, we appreciate your joining us today. thank you.

Melissa: Thank you very much.

Chris: You can find Melissa’s company at www.kindersack.com. Remember you can find free transcripts of this show and much more at ProductSourcingShow.com. Join us again next time. Thanks for listening. I’m Chris Malt